CLARKSVILLE - It was one for the ages Friday night as the Dardanelle Sand Lizards traveled to Clarksville to close out the regular season against the Panthers. Playoff seeding was on the line as the Panthers (7-3, 5-2 4AAAA) took care of business late in the fourth quarter to defeat Dardanelle (7-3, 4-3 4AAAA), 25-21.

Trailing 21-18 late in the fourth quarter, Clarksville was determined to not go down easy. The defense stood strong and forced the Sand Lizards to punt. The Panthers needed eight plays to travel the required 65 yards to take the lead. On the legs of tailback Justin Kremers and quarterback Cameron Looper, Clarksville got as close as the Dardanelle 38-yard line. It was Looper's arm that got them to within three yards. Looper hit receiver Blake Young for the 35-yard completion. On the next play, Looper found his way into the end zone and then added the PAT to give the Panthers the 25-21 lead.

"Our football team and our seniors showed a lot of leadership tonight. Dardanelle is so explosive and can score from any where on the field," Panther coach Michael Banning said. "They have four players who can score at any moment, and Coach Wilson does a great job. "I think the difference was who wanted it more, and our kids showed they did at the end."

After Clarksville built a 10-0 lead before halftime, the Panthers watched as Dardanelle erased all of it in the second half.

Trailing 10-0, Dardanelle took the opening kickoff of the second half and put its first points of the night on the board as quarterback Matt Haney found Kendall Pickney for the 33-yard touchdown pass. Nelson Cruz added the PAT, and the Sand Lizards had cut into Clarksville's lead.

After forcing a Panther punt, Dardanelle wasted little time in taking the lead to culminate a 59-yard drive. The drive was capped off as Haney ran into the end zone from 3 yards out. Cruz's kick was good, and the Sand Lizards had a 14-10 lead.

A fumble by Clarksville set up the next Dardanelle touchdown. The Sand Lizards had only 38 yards to travel to increase their lead. Again, Haney did the honors himself as he again went in from 3 yards out to give Dardanelle a 21-10 advantage.

The Panthers would begin their march to a victory on the next drive. Two big passing plays set them up with first and goal from the Sand Lizard 6-yard line. Looper needed only one play to put the six points on the board. On the extra point, Clarksville lined up in what appeared to be a PAT attempt but it was a play that fooled everybody as Looper received the direct snap and went around the right side for the 2-point conversion that pulled the Panthers within three points, 21-18.

"Both teams played a heckuva ball game tonight. Clarksville did a good job when they needed to. Our team didn't fight for four quarters. I love each and every one of those kids, but they know they didn't fight for four quarters.," Dardanelle coach Paul Wilson said. "We just have to get ready for whoever we play next week. We know our season didn't end tonight."

Clarksville got on the board on the first drive of the game. The Panthers needed just four plays to score. Facing fourth and one from his own 40-yard line, Looper raced 60 yards against a shell-shocked Sand Lizard team. Looper added the PAT to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

After forcing Dardanelle to punt, Clarksville added to it lead as Looper kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Panthers a 10-0 lead which they would take to the halftime locker room.

The win gives Clarksville the No. 3 seed out of the 4AAAA heading into the playoffs while Dardanelle drops all the way to the No. 5 seed. While their opponents are unknown as of press time, Clarksville will be at home next Friday night while Dardanelle will be on the road.